"I'm free~!" Damien frolicked and danced amongst the flowers, breathing in the fresh air with a renewed joy of life. Meanwhile Dolly watched him morosely, playing with the grass in sullen silence. 

"Vee, traitor." She'd mutter every now and then, pulling at the grass. Baz saw that and felt a slight apprehension, cradling his ahoge tenderly as if to guard it from any outside threat.

Vera, on her end, was punished for her insubordination with the word "Betrayer" painted across her face. 

She didn't really mind. Her choice to disobey her mistress came from cold practicality. Damien was so worked up back then that he'd really rather have just maimed himself rather than waste time chasing her, and then where would we be?

The boy was certifiably insane, there was no denying it. She decided giving him the key was much better than him losing a hand. There really was no other motive behind her betrayal. 

That aside, Damien nearly disowned his mother today. He quickly found out where Dolly had discovered the idea of giving him a golden shower, and fuck! He wanted to hit the woman over the head! 

If it weren't for his mother's tear-filled eyes and how she became a giant mass of chocolate pudding in her sadness, well, he'd have already left. 

"By the way, Dahlia." Their father, sitting on a chair outside, began, "You've been invited to a tea party."

"Tea party?" Dolly looked at him funny. "Why?"

"Your engagement to the prince has become public knowledge. There's plenty of families who would like to build connections with you because of that. It's a good thing."

But Dolly was having none of it. "I'm not going to marry Alex. I'm going to marry Day!" She announced with much pomp and circumstance.

"Yeah, no." Her father shut her down. "Anyway, you're going. It's a good chance for you to establish some important friendships. You'll need support from the other Noble families once you're Queen."

Dolly tsked. "Fine. Can I take Day?"

"What? No. If he goes the girl will just be trying to get his attention." Elias replied, knowing full well his son's unwanted affinity for young chicks.

'But--"

"No buts."

Dolly deflated. 

"Besides, Damien has his own things to get done that day." 

"Like what?" Muriel asked lazily next to him, drinking in the sun. 

"I'm putting him in school. I want to take him to the Capital city and have him tour the Royal Academy." Elias explained.

"So suddenly? Why?" She wondered. "You know he doesn't need schooling. He's already surpassed what they can teach him."

Her son was a genius! Although he never showed it, and he always acted like a rogue, he was truly intelligent! When he wanted to be. Whether it be music, dancing, painting, arithmetic or sword fighting, he excelled in them all. And those were only some of his talents. 

He also had a wicked sense for business, even. With his ideas her husband had made a killing. Not only had the boy established several bakeries around the Kingdom with original recipes of his own creation, he'd also had his father working on building a chain of giant "retail stores." 

Though she wasn't sure on the details, she knew it made their family untold amounts of profits. 

...She recalled the day when she'd heard her son say something about a "corporate empire" with a rather evil glint in his eyes. Not knowing why, she shivered. 

Anyway, with his talents, he had no reason to go to school.

"Yeah, well, he needs to socialize," Elias stated firmly. "His reputation is pretty shit, but children from all over the continent attend the Royal Academy."

"So?"

"So he can build relationships with kids who don't already think he's a little demon."

"But he is, though?" 

"He can control himself well enough." Her husband disagreed. "He just kept getting pestered. But these other kids will be a fresh start. He won't have a bias. I mean he gets along well enough with commoner children, doesn't he? So he can behave. It's simply that the Noble brats didn't know to quit, and he doesn't take well to attitude."

"And you think these other Noble kids won't have an attitude, too?"

Elias grimaced, then shook his head. "Honestly I just want him out of the house a while. He nearly dismembered himself. Kid is going crazy here."

"He's my kid. Of course he's a bit touched in the head." Muriel laughed, seemingly proud. "Being an eccentric is nothing new in my family. Llyr is--"

"A goddamn drug-fueled menace to humanity, yes, I know. I'm hoping Damien turns out different."

"Well, whatever. I guess it's no big deal." Muriel replied lazily, yawning. "You'd best hope he doesn't cause any more accidents, though. Lucius knows me, he's looked the other way for all of our son's past antics because of that. But if he causes an incident with people from other Kingdoms, well..." 

She trailed off, smirking. She actually hoped he would. It'd be such fun seeing what happens. 

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Elias said, smiling. "I'm putting Vera with him."

Muriel raised a brow. "Vera? With him? Do you want a bloodbath? Why even put them together? She's Dolly's attendant, not his. Why not Baz, or that Philip?"

"Because Baz lets him do anything he wants. Those two are accomplices if anything. And Phil is a friend too, but he can't control Damien at all either. Besides, even if they act like cats and dogs, at least he respects Vera. She won't let him get into too much trouble. If anything they'll be too busy fighting each other for him to cause mischief elsewhere."

Muriel sighed. "Fine, fine. Dolly isn't going to like this, though. Or Damien. Or Vera." 

"I'm sure It won't be that bad." 

***

"I want Mary." Damien said flatly.

They sat in his father's study. Damien sat forward with his hands clasped together propped up on his knees. An intense, fanatical light came to life in his eyes. 

'What?"

"If you give me Mary, I'll be a perfect angel," Damien said seriously. 

Elias was speechless. 

"You want to send someone with me? You want to make me attend school? FIne...but I get Mary." His son bargained.

"KId, she's not an object. I can't just 'give' her to you." Elias replied unhappily. Mary was a person he'd known even before his wife. They'd grown up together, she was a companion to him his entire life. 

The way his son spoke about her was, therefore, pretty annoying.

"I'll make her happy." Damien's eyes shone brightly.

"Is she going to be your attendant or your wife?" He felt a vein pop in his forehead. This kid! 

"Baz and Vera need a dependable father figure." His son spoke vaguely, but the meaning was clear.

"You aren't getting Mary," Elias said flatly. "She's got too many important duties to attend to."

"Fine, whatever." Damien tsked. "Let me take Phil then."

"No."

"Sir Killian then."

"You think one of the Kingdom's Swords can be bothered to babysit you if Mary can't?"

"If you send me and Vera to school together, I guarantee you either one of us dies or everyone else does in the resulting crossfire. You really want the deaths of innocents on your shoulders?"

Elias rubbed his temples. "You may be an unreasonable bastard sometimes, but not that much. You just don't want to take  her."

"Because she hates me!" Damien banged his fist on the desk.

"No she doesn't, you're just an eyesore."

"Whatever. Point is, we get along about as well as oil and water."

"She helped you this morning pretty readily."

"Because she didn't want me to beat her bony ass when I caught her."

"Is she learning, then?"

"To obey me? No, she's just lazy sometimes." A shrug.

"So are you."

"And?"

"You two are a lot alike. Maybe that's why you can't stand each other."

"What? Me and her? How?"

"You're both foul-mouthed, mean, conniving, two-faced, gluttonous--"

'Hey, Vee is a pretty nice chick, alright? She's also pretty cute and can be very good sometimes! You wanna throw down, old man? I'll beat your ass right now, let's go!"

The man snorted. "For all the bad blood between you, you're sure ready to jump to her defense."

"She's like my second sister. Only I can talk smack about her." Damien replied peevishly. "She might even be my daughter some day."

"Mary's tastes don't run so weird."

"This butter face of mine says she'll come around."

"Wait till you actually grow chest hair before you start having thoughts towards older women, son." Elias laughed.

"I've been deeper in your wife than you'll ever be." Damien reminded sourly.

"I will literally kill you. I can always start over. What's another 14 more years?" 

"But if you kill me, who'll comfort your wife at night? Since you're incapable."

"You are one disgusting little shit, you know that?" Elias made a face of distaste.

"Yeah, well, that's how your mom likes her men."

"Oh, fuck you."

"Fuck me yourself, you coward."

Elias finally exploded. "Enough!" He roared, erupting in both frustration and anger. "Seven hells, but you're an annoying bastard! Just go! Get out of here already!"  

"Aye-aye, cap'n." Damien did a half-hearted salute and promptly sauntered out, giving the silent Mary a wink along the way.

"He certainly doesn't hide his intentions, does he?" The woman said as the door closed shut. 

"What are you laughing for? The boy wants to eat your tofu." Elias was still massaging his pounding head. And technically, she wasn't laughing. But he'd known her long enough to recognize the humor in her voice.

"I just find it amusing how different he is from you. You weren't nearly that bold at his age, you know?"And the young Elias certainly wasn't a quiet child. He was a confident one too, just not at his son's level.

"He's a little shit, you mean. Gods, how did I end up with such a son? This must be Muriel's side of the family."

Mary considered. "Well, to be honest, he isn't much like them either. Muriel's certainly as promiscuous, but she's also rather...kill-happy. And her brother is just a careless drug addict with an oversized ego." The way she spoke of the man made one sure there was no love lost between them.

After a moment she shook her head, as if clearing away unwanted memories. "Damien's a tad different. He's a goofball more than anything. You're like a knight, Elias. Always have been. Muriel, she's definitely a Pirate Queen. Playful, but dangerous. Damien's more of a person you'd be content to drink with." She tapped her chin. "He does have his roguish side, but I haven't seen anything especially cruel from him. Ah. He's like a bard. "

"Because he'll fuck anything with two legs?" Elias asked.

"I imagine him telling tales in a court full of Nobles how he charmed an army of orcs to save a group of villagers. Then get roaring drunk and end up sleeping with the Lord's wife and daughters before having to escape through a window, casually walking naked through the streets on his way to convince a lonely housewife to make him a snack."

Elias felt his mouth slacken. "That's...awfully specific."

"Am I wrong?"

He rubbed his face. "No. No, it's actually scary how well that fits him. And he gets that charm and promiscuity from his mother, I'm sure. "

"Quite. Though he doesn't get it just from her. You also had your...exploits." A ghost of a smile donned her lips.

"Yeah, but I was never that bad! Those two are just on their own level. I was just naturally popular because of my suave, handsome good looks. It can't be helped that I broke apart a family or two." 

"You say that with a pride such a thing doesn't warrant. Are you not scum as well?"

"I at least aren't as bad as those two."

Mary nodded. "Muriel would've killed the Lord and then had sex with them."

Elias felt a chill. "It's a good thing she isn't a man." His wife was really that kind of villain. in fact, she'd taken a liking to him and so pushed him down the first time they met. Elias still had the scars on his chest to remember it.

"And now that I think of it, Damien would probably make the Lord watch." Mary spoke her thoughts aloud. "I'm not quite sure which is worse. On one hand, death. On the other, a broken spirit." 

"Fuck. If that ever happened to me, just end me quick." Elias grumbled. "Sometimes I think he's even more sadistic than his mother. The kid may not be as bloodthirsty, but his fetish for inflicting psychological trauma is downright ungodly."

"Let's hope he doesn't abuse his power, then." 

"Hm." Elias grunted. Nope. He didn't trust the kid at all.

... When his son grows up, let's disown him. 

Elias doesn't want to deal with all the scandals the boy will get himself involved in.